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A New DC-DC Converter for Fuel Cell Powered Residential Power Generation Systems: Author: Sharma, Rahul Rajiv; Date: 2006-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis presents a new topology for an isolated DC-DC converter for low voltage to high voltage conversions at high power. The proposed converter is targeted for use in fuel cell powered residential power generation systems, where low voltage to high voltage conversion at high power (>5KW) and isolation between input and output are required. Conventional DC-DC converters like forward, half bridge and full bridge for such applications need to have high turn ratio in their power transformers, to enable the high voltage boosting. This high turns ratio of the transformers results in high le...; Download File | View full details

Full sky imaging polarimetry for initial polarized modtran validation: Author: Pust, Nathaniel Joel; Date: 2007-05-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: Although military studies of the last ten years have shown that visible polarimetry supplies supplemental surveillance information, the polarimetric signatures of ground-based objects greatly depend on the illuminating skylight polarization. The polarization of a pure molecular atmosphere is easily modeled, but aerosols and clouds modify clear-sky polarization substantially. The Air Force has developed a polarimetric atmospheric radiative transfer model (MODTRAN-P) to simulate atmospheric effects. To assist MODTRAN-P code validation, a full-sky visible polarimeter has been developed using liqu...; Download File | View full details

Wireless communication for sparse and rural areas: Author: Zhang, Mingliu; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: Wireless technology experienced a fast development in the past few decades. However, research and investment in wireless communication so far has been focused mainly on high-density domains or fully connected networks. The technologies/solutions developed for above domains do not readily apply to rural and sparse domains. The users in rural and sparse areas are still served predominantly by either low-speed dialup access or have no data service available at all. This research work explores the largely overlooked rural and sparse domains, where distance, rough terrain and low node density are t...; Download File | View full details

An investigation of acoustic impulse response measurement and modeling for small rooms: Author: Chen, Zhixin; Date: 2007-12-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: Room impulse response modeling has been a subject of interest to acousticians, musicians, and architects for many years. Room impulse response modeling can help to predict the acoustical characteristics of the new finished concert halls, to create a virtual studio effect for music production without building the actual studio room, and to compare the effect of different absorbing materials and treatments in architecture. The goals of this dissertation are to obtain a better match between the simulation and the measurement results of small room impulse responses, and to understand why the model...; Download File | View full details

Wide-angle infrared cloud imaging for cloud cover statistics: Author: Nugent, Paul Winston; Date: 2008-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The Infrared Cloud Imager (ICI) is a radiometrically calibrated thermal infrared imaging instrument currently in development at Montana State University to measure cloud cover statistics. This instrument was developed originally as part of a joint U.S.-Japan effort to study the arctic atmosphere. The ICI provides localized high-resolution data relative to satellites images and, in contrast to visible imaging systems, provides continuous day and night operation. While the original instrument proved the capabilities of using radiometrically calibrated thermal infrared images to produce cloud cov...; Download File | View full details

Process voltage temperature compensated on-chip CMOS active inductors for Wilkinson power dividing applications: Author: Bucossi, William Louis; Date: 2008-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Few academic or industry feasibility studies have been published on the implementation of Active Inductors in a standard CMOS IC process as an alternative to the physically large and typically quite lossy spiral inductors. Development efforts at the simulation level have achieved only limited success in creating an Active Inductor topology that exhibits the quality and inductive tolerance necessary for the large-scale, high-volume production common to most IC components. This thesis focuses on manufacturing and characterizing the basic component circuitry necessary for the implementation of a ...; Download File | View full details

Two wavelength Lidar instrument for atmospheric aerosol study: Author: Hoffman, David Swick; Date: 2008-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: A two-color lidar instrument and inversion algorithms have been developed for the study of atmospheric aerosols. The two-color lidar laser transmitter is based on the collinear fundamental 1064 nm and second harmonic 532 nm output of a Nd:YAG laser. Scattered light is collected by the two-color lidar receiver using a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with the 532 nm channel monitored using a gated photomultiplier tube (PMT) and the 1064 nm channel monitored using an avalanche photodiode (APD). Data is collected from the PMT and APD using a 14 bit 200 MHz data acquisition card. The lidar inversion a...; Download File | View full details

Design and evaluation of test bed software for a smart antenna system supporting wireless communication in rural areas: Author: Panique, Michael David; Date: 2008-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This paper explores the design and development of a test bed to analyze feasibility of utilizing adaptive smart antennas in conjunction with high bandwidth WiMAX radio systems to achieve improved performance for mobile nodes and to suppress potential interference from unwanted signals. Although the new WiMAX standard offers the potential for using smart, adaptive antennas, this functionality has not been implemented. This design serves as a common platform for testing adaptive array algorithms including direction of arrival (DOA) estimation, beamforming, and adaptive tracking, as well as compl...; Download File | View full details

Physically aware agile optical networks: Author: Lin, Wenhao; Date: 2008-08-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: With the development of new laser sources, fiber amplifiers, and other optical components, optical communication systems have undergone enormous growth and evolution in recent decades. The current trend of optical networking is to move towards dynamic, all-optical networks. In all-optical networks, information signals are transmitted from source to destination totally in the optical domain, without the usual optical-Electrical-optical conversions at intermediate nodes. New challenges and opportunities emerge in different layers of the optical network architecture in this transition process. Th...; Download File | View full details

Reduction of EDFA optical power transients using power shaping: Author: Jackson, James Trent; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Many erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) based multi-wavelength optical networks employ techniques such as burst-switching or packet switching where the time interval between traffic blocks can be long enough to induce EDFA optical power transients. The optical power transients are created by abrupt changes in the average input power to the EDFAs and can adversely affect the performance of the network. To mitigate the effects of EDFA optical power transients on optical networks, a method called power shaping where heads and tails are joined to the beginning and end of a traffic block is invest...; Download File | View full details

A combined confocal imaging and raman spectroscopy microscope for in vivo skin cancer diagnosis: Author: Arrasmith, Christopher Lyman; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Confocal microscopy has provided a useful tool for imaging biopsied tissue samples. The cross sectioning ability inherent in confocal microscopes provides a method for viewing of cellular structure at different layers of a histology sample, allowing for optical cross sectioning and viewing structures below the surface of the sample. As a cancer diagnosis technique, confocal microscopy has been shown to provide valuable information showing differences in cell morphology of malignant and benign regions. Raman spectroscopy has also been shown to be a useful tool for cancer diagnosis in skin tissu...; Download File | View full details

Water vapor profiling using a compact widely tunable diode laser Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL): Author: Nehrir, Amin Reza; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Atmospheric water vapor is an important driver of cloud formation, precipitation, and cloud microphysical structure. Changes in the cloud microphysical structure due to the interaction of aerosols and water vapor can produce more reflective clouds, resulting in more incoming solar radiation being reflected back into space, leading to an overall negative radiative forcing. Water vapor also plays an important role in the atmospheric feedback process that acts to amplify the positive radiative forcing resulting from increasing levels of atmospheric CO2. In the troposphere, where the water vapor g...; Download File | View full details

Measurements of plant stress in response to CO2 using a three-CCD imager: Author: Rouse, Joshua Hatley; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: In response to the increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gasses, such as CO ₂ produced by burning fossil fuels, which is very likely linked to climate change, the Zero Emissions Research Technology (ZERT) program has been researching the viability of underground sequestration of CO ₂. This group's research ranges from modeling underground sequestration wells to detection of leaks at test sites. One of these test sites is located just west of Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, at 45.66°N 111.08°W. At this site experiments were conduct...; Download File | View full details

Carbon dioxide sequestration monitoring and verification via laser based detection system in the 2 micron band: Author: Humphries, Seth David; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: Carbon Dioxide (CO 2) is a known contributor to the green house gas effect. Emissions of CO 2 are rising as the global demand for inexpensive energy is placated through the consumption and combustion of fossil fuels. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) may provide a method to prevent CO 2 from being exhausted to the atmosphere. The carbon may be captured after fossil fuel combustion in a power plant and then stored in a long term facility such as a deep geologic feature. The ability to verify the integrity of carbon storage at a location is key to the success of all CCS projects. A laser-ba...; Download File | View full details

An embedded system for the infrared cloud imager: Author: Simpson, Kristie Danielle; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The Infrared Cloud Imager (ICI) is a ground-based thermal infrared imaging instrument, with a new version currently in development at Montana State University, to measure cloud cover statistics. The next-generation ICI design incorporates an embedded system for consolidating the controls and sensors for the system. Instead of having dedicated lines to each component of the system, only one connection is needed to the internal microcontroller, and then the microcontroller connects to all other components. The embedded system is capable of supporting digital sensors and controls, analog sensors,...; Download File | View full details

Novel die-to-die coaxial interconnect system for use in System-in-Package applications: Author: McIntosh, Christopher Michael; Date: 2009-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The Electrical parasitics of traditional integrated circuit (IC) packaging methods are a known bottleneck to overall system performance. The parasitic inductance and capacitance of traditional package interconnect such as wire bonds, create noise sources which ultimately limit the speed at which a digital system can run. Recent advances in package interconnect have reduced these parasitics by moving to a System-in-Package (SiP) approach. In SiP, multiple IC dies are connect directly to each other and encapsulated within the same package. This improves performance by eliminating the need for bo...; Download File | View full details

Mathematical modeling and performance evaluation of soliton-based and non-soliton all-optical WDM systems: Author: Kota Pavan, Sriharsha; Date: 2009-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis presents a performance evaluation of soliton and non-soliton based all-optical Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) networks assuming the existing infrastructure (e.g., fiber and other physical layer components). The performance evaluation is carried out by a conveniently defined Quality (Q) factor, which is a measure of the signal to noise ratio, and indirectly, the bit error rate (BER) of the system. A solution to the Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation (NLSE), describing the propagation of light inside a fiber with linear and nonlinear impairments is found mathematically fr...; Download File | View full details

Low cost range and attitude determination solution for small satellite platforms: Author: Greenfield, Nathan Joseph; Date: 2009-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The ability to determine the range and attitude between two satellites can be a challenging venture. It can be made more challenging when considering the use of such a system on a small satellite. Successful implementation of a small and low power range and attitude sensor could open potential doors to multiple small satellite constellations and formation flying maneuvers. After successfully demonstrating an electromagnetic docking system on a one-dimensional air track, it was determined that continued work into two and three-dimensional systems would require a more functional range and attitu...; Download File | View full details

Simulation, design and validation of a solid oxide fuel cell powered propulsion system for an unmanned aerial vehicle: Author: Lindahl, Peter Allan; Date: 2009-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis presents a physically-based model for design and optimization of a fuel cell powered electric propulsion system for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Components of the system include a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) providing power, motor controller, Brushless DC (BLDC) motor, and a propeller. Steady-state models for these components are integrated into a simulation program and solved numerically. This allows an operator to select constraints and explore design trade-offs between components, including fuel cell, controller, motor and propeller options. We also presents a graphical pr...; Download File | View full details

Wireless sensor interrogator design for passive, resonant frequency sensors using frequency modulation spectroscopy: Author: Peterson, Brian James; Date: 2009-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The lack of passive, wireless, chemical and biological sensor systems is a significant impediment to sensor system applications. While active sensors with a wireless communications link continue to decrease in power consumption, they still require a power source, such as a battery. This active power consumption limits the useful life of the sensor and its applications. A more attractive solution would be a passive, wireless, chemical and biological sensor integrated with a wireless interrogation platform to monitor the sensor. The focus of this thesis is the realization of a wireless sensor in...; Download File | View full details

Phase alignment of asynchronous external clock controllable devices to periodic master control signal using the Periodic Event Synchronization Unit: Author: Ostrander, Charles Nicholas; Date: 2009-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The Periodic Event Synchronization Unit aligns devices without the ability to be triggered by an external source. The primary function of the unit is to align the pattern trigger pulses of two pulse pattern generators which supply four inputs of a multiplexer. The pulse pattern generators lack the ability to start their code according to an external signal. When operating, the designed unit maintains a specific pattern alignment of two binary data streams of 5 gigabits per second as a multiplexer combines them into a data stream of four times the bit rate. In addition to alignment, the uni...; Download File | View full details

Virtual audio localization with simulated early-reflections and generalized head-related transfer functions: Author: Reed, Darrin Kiyoshi; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: In a natural sonic environment a listener is accustomed to hearing reflections and reverberation. It is conceived that early reflections could reduce front-back confusion in synthetic 3-D audio. This thesis describes experiments which seek to determine whether or not simulated reflections can reduce front-back confusions for audio presented with non-individualized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) via headphones. To measure the contribution of the reflections, 13 human subjects participated in localization experiments which compared their localization ability with anechoic HRTF processin...; Download File | View full details

High power, high efficiency, low cost DC/DC converters for laser test equipment and residential fuel cell applications: Author: Sternberg, Kyle Matthew; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: In this work two low cost, high efficiency, high power DC/DC converters are developed. The first converter is targeted for industrial laser applications. The converter is designed for a 400 volt input voltage and a 0-36V output voltage and 0-40A output with a maximum power output of 1500 watts at a cost less than $0.30 / watt. To achieve a high efficiency and low cost at this power level a zero-voltage switched full bridge converter is used. This technology increases the efficiency of the converter past 90% while reducing the size of the components. The converter was built and tested and achie...; Download File | View full details

A confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer for use in LIDAR receivers: Author: Neal, Kerry Ann; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: A series of crop rotations were evaluated for their impacts on soil-borne populations of root lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus neglectus. Population changes, measured as the ratio of P. neglectus adults counted at harvest to those counted at planting time, was recorded under a series of two-year rotations alternating winter wheat with either fallow, barley, pea, lentil, canola, and camelina. Fallow, barley, pea, and camelina were found to have a neutral effect on nematode populations (p < 0.001). Winter wheat and canola caused significant increases in populations, while lentils caused signifi...; Download File | View full details

Ultra wideband radar antenna design for snow measurement applications: Author: Mosy, John Samy; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Creating a high-precision, compact and low cost snow structure and depth sensor has always been the dream of many industries, and yet hard to achieve all together. Snow depth sensors are used in avalanche search and rescue and widely in recreational snow industry, as well as in environmental monitoring systems for snow water equivalence measurements. The use of radar for snow depth measurement is not new and many techniques -such as Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) - have been used but they prove to be costly, bulky, and have relatively low precision. Today with the availability of c...; Download File | View full details

Compact, mid-infared laser source for remote sensing of gas effluents: Author: Berg, Trenton Jeffery; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Remote sensing of gas effluents in the mid-IR wavelength region from 2 microns to 5 microns is preferred due to strong molecular absorption features (10 to 100 times stronger than in the near-IR) and high-transparency atmospheric windows. Currently, long-range mid-IR remote sensing is inhibited by the lack of suitable laser sources. As a result, frequency conversion in nonlinear optical materials has emerged as a powerful method to produce high-power, tunable, mid-IR light. However, compact, high-power narrowband conversion systems suitable for long-range mid-IR spectroscopy are not commercial...; Download File | View full details

Carbon dioxide sequestration underground laser based detection system: Author: Barr, Jamie Lynn; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO 2) is a known greenhouse gas. Due to the burning of fossil fuels by industrial and power plants the atmospheric concentration of CO 2 has been rising over the past 50 years. Carbon capture and sequestration provides a method to prevent CO 2 from being emitted into the atmosphere. Successful carbon sequestration will require the development of many pieces of technology including development of monitoring tools and techniques. An underground laser based monitoring system was built and tested at Montana State University (MSU) to measure sub-surface CO 2 concentrations at a sequ...; Download File | View full details

Theoretical investigation of carbon nanotube devices for millimeter/submillimeter wave analog circuits: Author: Daggett, Josephine Anne; Date: 2009-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Carbon nanotubes have become a very exciting area of research in the field of nanoelectronics in the past few years. Diodes and transistors fabricated using carbon nanotubes are theoretically very promising. Although, experimentally these devices are challenging to successfully realize it is hoped that further research and improvements in fabrication procedures will yield devices which could match or surpass current CMOS technologies. However, there are still many areas that need to be improved before anyone sees these devices mass produced commercially. This thesis gives a detailed overview o...; Download File | View full details

In-situ Electrical terminal characterization of fuel cell stacks: Author: Seger, Eric Matthew; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis demonstrates in-situ characterization of a 5kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and a 165W proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack at the Electrical terminals, using impedance spectroscopy and time-domain modeling. The SOFC experiments are performed using excitation from the power electronic ripple current and exogenous excitation generated from several different sources including a hybrid system which uses a secondary power source for the generation of the small-signal currents. The PEMFC experiments are performed using exogenous excitation from a boost converter. In co...; Download File | View full details

Digital implementation of direction-of-arrival estimation techniques for smart antenna systems: Author: Abusultan, Monther Younis; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Adaptive antenna arrays use multiple antenna elements to form directional patterns in order to improve the performance of wireless communication systems. The antenna arrays also have the ability to detect the direction of incoming signals. These two capabilities allow a smart antenna system to adaptively beamform to more efficiently communicate between nodes. The direction-of-arrival estimation is a crucial component of the smart antenna system that uses open-loop adaptive approach. Historically this estimation has been accomplished using a personal Computer. Implementing the estimation in the...; Download File | View full details

A hardware based Ricean fading radio channel simulator: Author: Badawy, Ahmed Mohamed H.; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: As the signal propagates from the transmitter to the receiver, it is subjected to fading. One of the fading distributions is Ricean distribution that assumes a line of sight signal and an infinite number of multipath signals between the transmitter and the receiver. The key parameter in the Ricean distribution is the K factor which is a measure of the severity of fading; the lower the K value, the more severe the fading. The problem was to develop a hardware based fading simulator that is based on the Ricean distribution. The key component of the hardware is an eight channel beamformer board; ...; Download File | View full details

All-sky polarization imager deployment at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii: Author: Dahlberg, Andrew Richard; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: An all-sky imaging polarimeter was deployed in summer 2008 to the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii to study clear-sky atmospheric skylight polarization. The imager, designed at Montana State University, operates in five distinct wavebands in the visible region of the spectrum and is capable of imaging the overhead skylight hemisphere with a fisheye lens. This thesis describes the Mauna Loa deployment and presents an initial comparison of these data to those observed by Coulson with a zenith-slice polarimeter in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We show how the all-sky imaging technique yields add...; Download File | View full details

Radiation tolerant many-core computing system for aerospace applications: Author: Gauer, Clinton Francis; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: When integrated circuits are exposed to ionizing radiation, a variety of fault conditions can occur. This draws concern to the aerospace community as they look toward integrating more complex computing systems into flight applications. The detrimental effects that radiation can have on integrated circuits can be broken up into two categories: single event effects and total ionizing dose. Single event effects refer to non-destructive electron hole pairs that are created by the radiation which can lead to logical failures. Total ionizing dose refers to the permanent damage to a device caused by ...; Download File | View full details

Confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer based high spectral resolution LIDAR: Author: Hoffman, David Swick; Date: 2012-12-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: A high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL), which has been developed at Montana State University, utilizes a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer (CFP) to separate aerosol and molecular lidar returns for the purpose of atmospheric aerosol observation. The CFP is actively frequency locked to the laser-transmitter via a novel frequency modulation based technique. 532 nm second harmonic light from a frequency doubled Nd:YAG injectionseeded, pulsed laser is directed vertically into the atmosphere. Light backscattered by the atmosphere is collected using a commercial Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The s...; Download File | View full details

Development of a cognitive array system: Author: Weber, Raymond Joseph; Date: 2010-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis proposes a design for a cognitive array system for next generation wireless communication systems, combining the techniques of cognitive radios and adaptive array systems. This novel array system allows for the possibility of greater spectral usage and reuse, and improved communication ranges. In this thesis, numerous algorithms were studied to map an RF environment in both spatial and spectral domains that would be useful in this system. Towards this goal, direction of arrival estimation, frequency sensing and spectral hole finding algorithms were studied, in addition to a joint f...; Download File | View full details

High resolution direction of arrival estimation analysis and implementation in a smart antenna system: Author: Khallaayoun, Ahmed; Date: 2010-08-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: The goal of this research is to equip the smart antenna system designed by the telecommunication group at the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Montana State University with high resolution direction of arrival estimation (DOA) capabilities; the DOA block should provide accurate estimates of emitters' DOAs while being computationally efficient. Intensive study on DOA estimation algorithms was carried out to pinpoint the most suitable algorithm for the application of interest, and the spectral methods were chosen for this study. The outcome of the study consisted of generatin...; Download File | View full details

Transmission scheduling for routing paths and multipaths in cognitive radio mesh networks: Author: Zhao, Xia; Date: 2010-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Nodes in a cognitive radio mesh network may select from a set of available channels to use provided they do not interfere with primary users. This ability can improve overall network performance but introduces the question of how best to use these channels. This project addresses the following specific problem: given a routing path P, choose which channels each link in P should use and their transmission schedule so as to maximize the end-to-end data flow rate (throughput) supported by the entire path. This problem is relevant to applications such as streaming video or data where a connection ...; Download File | View full details

Power management systems for use with microbial fuel cells: Author: Meehan, Andrew Joseph; Date: 2010-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The Navy has the need to power underwater sensor packages. Powering these systems with batteries requires constant upkeep that involve diving teams. This is a hazardous and expensive process so they want to explore alternate methods of powering these sensor packages. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a potential energy source that could power devices placed underwater. MFCs are able to harvest energy from naturally occurring bacteria in open water environments. However, MFCs produce very little voltage and current. Traditional methods of power conversion are not able to allow an MFC to operate a...; Download File | View full details

Focused investigations of relativistic electron burst intensity, range, and dynamics space weather mission global positioning system: Author: Wilz, Mackenzie Charles; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The FIREBIRD mission (Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst Intensity, Range, and Dynamics) is a low earth orbit, space weather, CubeSat mission which is comprised of a two satellite constellation. This constellation is responsible for the measurement of relativistic electron microbursts with very fine spatial and temporal resolution. To achieve the spatial and temporal requirements of the mission, a global positioning system (GPS), for the purpose of navigation position and timing, is to be implemented on both satellites within the constellation. The integration and testing of...; Download File | View full details

Heterodyne detection fiber confocal microscope for in vivo skin imaging: Author: Xue, Xiaohu; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Confocal microscopy has been demonstrated to be a very effective tool for imaging in-vivo samples. The confocal imaging geometry provides a dramatic optical advantage for microscopy by discriminating against out-of-focus background with minimal loss of image-forming signal. Because of these advantages, the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) can image a thin layer clearly from a thick sample without biopsy. However, current usage of CLSM is limited by the signal-to-noise ratio using conventional optical detection. In order to achieve deeper penetration into the skin in a clinical setting...; Download File | View full details

Initial rotor position estimation for low saliency interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor drives: Author: Yang, Yan; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This work presents an initial rotor position estimation method for low saliency interior permanent-magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drives. The method injects signals into the stationary alpha-beta frame of the motor and substitutes the injected signals into the stationary alpha-beta frame model of the motor to solve for the rotor position. In particular, the method injects specific signals into the motor to eliminate the rotor-position-independent terms while keeping the rotor-position and motor-saliency dependent terms in the motor model. As a result, the rotor-position and motor-saliency de...; Download File | View full details

Battery state-of-health assessment using a near real-time impedance measurement technique under no-load and load conditions: Author: Christophersen, Jon Petter; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: The reliability of battery technologies has become a critical issue as the United States seeks to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. One of the significant limitations of in-situ battery health and reliability assessments, however, has been the inability to rapidly acquire information on power capability during aging. The Idaho National Laboratory has been collaborating with Montana Tech of the University of Montana and Qualtech Systems, Incorporated, on the development of a Smart Battery Status Monitor. This in-situ device will track changes in battery performance parameters to estimate it...; Download File | View full details

Reversible fuel cell performance and degradation: Author: Cornachione, Matthew Aaron; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis presents the development of a test stand to characterize the performance of reversible solid oxide fuel cells. The test stand was used in two different studies to determine the behavior of commercially available solid oxide fuel cells under varying steam percentage input and to compare the degradation incurred during fuel cell operation to that during electrolysis operation. The development of this test stand included construction of a water vapor delivery system using steam entrained in a hydrogen flow and a circuit built from high power op-amps to allow biasing of the fuel cell i...; Download File | View full details

Multi-spectral imaging of vegetation for CO₂ leak detection: Author: Hogan, Justin Allan; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Though its status as a crisis situation remains the subject of much debate [1,2] there does exist evidence that global warming is a real phenomenon [3] and that its processes are to some degree enhanced by anthropogenically introduced greenhouse gases, perhaps most notably carbon dioxide (CO₂) [3]. This claim is backed by observations of increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations from nearly 280-ppm around 1750 to 360 ppm in 1995 [4]. By the end of 2010, this number was up to approximately 390 ppm [5]. To reduce human influence on the global environment, carbon capture and seque...; Download File | View full details

Improved control system for process, voltage, and temperature compensation of CMOS active inductors: Author: Hollender, Reinhold Frederick William III; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Wireless communications play an increasingly large role in today's society. Today, many wireless functions are necessarily integrated into chips and other small packages to support miniaturized wireless devices such as cell phones, laptops, netbooks, etc. These Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs) often require inductances to perform their function. Most RFICs utilize spiral inductors. Spiral inductors have their properties defined by their physical dimensions, often taking up large areas of IC real estate. There has been research into replacing these spiral inductors with active elemen...; Download File | View full details

Surface micro-machined SU-8 2002 deformable membrane mirrors: Author: Lukes, Sarah Jane; Date: 2011-05-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Imaging systems are continually decreasing in size, especially in applications such as microscopy and cell phone cameras. Much research is being done to increase focus control capabilities of these instruments. This paper describes a wet-etch release and a dry-etch release fabrication technique for SU-8 2002 surface micro-machined deformable mirrors for focus control and compensation of focus-induced spherical aberration. Producing a good quality SU-8 2002 membrane layer proved difficult and a detailed discussion of the recipe development is presented. A thorough review of both release process...; Download File | View full details

Two dimensional radiation sensor development for use in space bound reconfigurable Computers: Author: Gowens, Eric Christopher; Date: 2011-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Space bound Computers are exposed to damaging radiation once they leave the safety of the Earth's atmosphere, which is a significant hindrance to the development of digital space systems. While most digital systems can be radiation hardened, the development time in making them less susceptible to radiation keeps the hardened systems behind the cutting edge. A better solution for this problem is to provide an early warning that a digital microchip may have been struck by radiation in the form of a spatially aware sensor. The focus of this thesis is the design, fabrication, and testing of a two-...; Download File | View full details

Command and data handling systems for a multi-instrument sounding rocket payload: Author: Lokken, Patrick Bucknam; Date: 2011-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: To improve our physical understanding of the solar transition region, the Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph (MOSES) has been developed at Montana State University to perform imaging spectroscopy of the sun at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. Launched first in 2006, the instrument performed simultaneous imaging and spectroscopy over a narrow band centered around 30.4 nm. The amount of science that can be accomplished with the instrument is limited by its optical bandwidth, which must be small to reduce ambiguity in its data. This limitation can be overcome by launching an array of instruments ...; Download File | View full details

Sequential beamspace smart antenna system: Author: Tidd, William Graves; Date: 2011-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis proposes a design of a novel and innovative sequential beamspace (SBS) smart antenna system. The system is capable of accurate direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in beamspace and efficient beamforming. Moreover, the robust functionality of such a system includes high resolution radio frequency (RF) emitter DOA estimation and beamforming in a noisy environment in the presence of strong interference. Simulations for DOA estimation using beamspace MUSIC and beamspace Capon methods are presented in conjunction with Capon beamforming. These methods are compared and contrasted with pr...; Download File | View full details

Numerical modeling of the deflection of an electrostatically actuated circular membrane mirror: Author: Moog, Eric John; Date: 2011-08-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: This thesis outlines a numerical modeling method to describe the deflection behavior and investigate control schemes for an electrostatically actuated deformable membrane mirror, with application to focus control and aberration correction in micrelectromechanical systems. The physics of the membrane are approximated using a finite difference approach with parameters obtained from measurements of a physical device. The model is validated by comparison of simulated and measured mirror position under static and dynamic conditions. This thesis provides simulation results for control schemes that w...; Download File | View full details

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